Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Tangle Organization

I have been tangling since 2004 and I guess it is fair to say that it has taken me almost about 8 years to find/develop a tangle organization system that works for me.  When tangling was brand new, it was pretty easy.  I had a nice print out of tangles given to me in my first class and from there I advanced to my kit.  Then zentangle kept growing and growing and in 2009 I attended the first CZT training.  There I received my CZT "bible" and I was super excited to have an organization system already made for me.  But the tangles didn't stop there.  Right there in that first CZT seminar we were asked to go out and create our own tangle pattern.  That is when I came up with Koryl and so I needed to figure out how to add all the wonderful new patterns that were appearing on blogs, the Zentangle Newsletter, the web and of course TANGLEPATTERNS.COM!!  How the heck was I going to keep track of all of these?  I won't drag you through the years, but it took many trials, reading about what others were doing and eventually creating my own system.  I am happy to report that after about a year of using this system, I am still using it and it really seems to work for me.  I needed to create a system where I could categorize the tangles and be able to easily see them.  I am pretty sure that my Virgo nature played a role in my need for categories.  So here is what I came up with, I have created four categories that I break out tangles into:


  • Grid Patterns
  • Border Patterns
  • Filler Patterns
  • Shapes Patterns





I find that I am able to fit every new tangle I encounter into one of these categories.  It doesn't mean I have to use a border pattern only as a border, but I know where to look....and with all the tangles displayed on baseball card size cards there is easy viewing for the next tangle I want to try.  On the back you can draw the step outs for the patterns.  



If this sounds like a system that might work for you, visit my Etsy shop where you can download the PDF files for the cards.  Then you can choose your own colors of cardstock and print as many as you like!  I have also added a 5th category as a separate download via request for an Original Zentangle Card that can also be downloaded.

There are lots of other ideas about organization out there.  A great resource is this post by Margaret Bremner, CZT where she includes her systems and links to others.  

Keep Tangling!

Monday, April 29, 2013

Challenge 116: Blind Sighted

I am spending the week back in Rhode Island to help my mom following surgery. She is doing well but her recovery will take some time. We have had a nice quiet evening for her first night home and I have had some time to tangle while relaxing and watching TV. This week's challenge from the Diva was to draw a blind string and then tangle. Well, my string turned out all squished up and I forgot to take a picture of the tiny tangled mess it was, but here is what I came up with and I am surprised at how many tangles I squished into this squishy space.  This is not one of my favorite tiles, but not sure if I will have time to do/post another so I just need to let go and let it be.  Please excuse the quality of my images for the next couple of weeks.  I will be away from my scanner and will be at the mercy of my IPad/Phone cameras.



Tangles: Ojo, Knightsbridge, Printemps,Mysteria,Msst, Scallops (variation), Ahh

Keep Tangling!

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Challenge 115: "Amanda Day" - Earth Day

This week's challenge is in honor of Earth Day and it immediately made me think of the elements that make up our wonderful Earth: Water, Fire, Air and Earth.  So I set out on my quest to find a tangle that represented each and here is what I came up with:

Tangles: Lamar (Water), Flying Geese (Air), Candle Glow (Fire), Sand Swirls (Earth)

Keep Tangling!!



Friday, April 19, 2013

Tangle Trial: Kunstler

OMG! I love, love, love this tangle.  I remember seeing it when Margaret Bremner first posted it a while ago and of course life and work got in the way so I never got around to trying it.  So last night I finally had the opportunity to try it out and what fun!  It is so instantly rewarding and so much fun to draw.  I can't wait to use it on other pieces and try out a larger version.  Also thinking of finding the perfect object to tangle this on.  Might need to try it in glitter this weekend.  Try it out - click here to see the pattern on Margaret's blog.


Keep Tangling!

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Tangle Trials: Piza and Tangles by Margaret Bremner

I have been very lucky this week and have had the opportunity to tangle when I got home from work every day this week!  There are so many tangles I have wanted to try out and just haven't been able to find the time.  I did a frame of Piza for this week's challenge, but really liked the contrasting columns I saw on Linda Farmer's example on tanglepatterns.com and I remembered the Diva's challenge from last week of the box, in a box, in a box and so I wanted to try Piza with that in mind.  Here is what resulted:

Tangles: Piza

Then I received a wonderful comment from Sue Jacobs saying she had completed a tile with my tangles, you can check it out here.  I thought this was a great idea and I had a list of some tangles from Margaret Bremner I wanted to try out so here is that tile (with some Pearlz added around the border):


Tangles: Lily Pads, Chebucto, Oakling, Pia

Keep Tangling!


Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Progress - Jewelry Box

Well it has taken a while but the jewelry box is now decorated on all sides. I am really enjoying using the white pen on the mint background.  Now it just needs to be sealed.  It should be available in my Etsy store soon! 


Tangles: Barber Pole, Fescu, Ahh, Linq, Henna Drum, Tipple Variation, Fringe, Perfs
Keep Tangling!

Monday, April 15, 2013

Challenge 114: Stars v.2

This week's challenge was to use a star shape for a string.  I decided to use the two triangle method that the Diva chose.    I also decided to try out the new tangle Piza for the border.


Tangles: Piza, Paradox, Keenees, Cockles and Mussels

Keep Tangling!


Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Challenge #113: UMT - Hip to be Square

This week's challenge from the Diva is to use squares inside one another to create the string.  This was fun and I got to use Galoo, a tangle from Carole Ohl that I really like but haven't used in a while.  


Tangles: Galoo, Baraboo, Koryl

Keep Tangling!

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Jewelry Box: In Progress

Here is the lid for a jewelry box I am working on that I picked up at the Goodwill. Sanded, painted and now tangling.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

New Tangle: Tringle

I hope you will enjoy Tringle as much as I do.  I can't seem to stop tangling with Tringle.  It has found its way into all my meetings and onto all my agendas.  I have been seeing a lot of triangle and geometric shapes in art in magazines, in books and online.  I  was really intrigued by how I could turn this into a new tangle and just started playing with it.  I then did the search to see if I was reinventing the wheel...had this tangle already been done.  I went to tanglepatterns.com and found close cousins in Tink and Munchin, but think Tringle and the completed product I intended is different enough to be its own tangle.  A completed shape with the varying sizes of triangles in side with some filled in and some not.  I also like adding in the third color (keeping things in 3's) with pencil.  Keep Tangling!







Monday, April 1, 2013

Challenge 112: UMT - Tuxedo

This week's challenge from the Diva is a use my tangle challenge.  I had not tried this tangle before.  I was a little skeptical it was going to turn out in a way I liked, but found it to be a great tangle with many possibilities for tangleations.  Hope you have a chance to try it this week.

Tangles: Tuxedo, Croon, Baton, Tringle

Keep Tangling!